Does imodium (Loperamide) prolong opiate withdrawal?

New Member

I just gone through my second time withdrawing from opiates. The first time was quite bad, and it lasted for about five days with real intensity and gradually improved beyond that. This time, however a friend of mine suggested that I make use of loperamide, to ease the horrible withdrawal.

At first, it seemed like magic, because I quit cold turkey last weekend, and I didn't have too much problem getting back to work this Monday. However, I haven't been able to take a dump all week, and the loperamide is not working as well as it worked in the beginning of this week. Today is Friday and I feel all sick, and this is nothing but a delayed and prolonged withdrawal from opiates. By prolonging it, loperamide had converted this into the most terrible withdrawal , which I am sure is going to continue right through this weekend as is probably going to get worse and worse as time goes by.

In my own analysis, all the loperamide managed to do, was play the fool with my withdrawal. It sort of camouflaged the initial withdrawal stage, but overall prolonged the withdrawal period by a significant amount, and the overall pain and suffering I had to ultimately endure was multi fold what it would have been, had I never experimented with loperamide.

New Member

Every person has his or her own individual quirks and preferences. These drugs can also work very differently, for each person who takes them. I want to ask of people, who have used loperamide, in opiate withdrawal, what their experiences have been. Kindly share relevant experiences and information here.

If anybody has specifically managed to quit opiates , using the help of loperamide, it would be very useful , if you can share your experience. We can all agree, here that one person's experience need not necessarily be applicable to everybody. The controversy at the moment is whether Loperamide helps or hurts the opiate withdrawal process, and so any testimonies that are for the use of loperamide, are worth considering.

From all I have read online about loperamide, its users seem to be equally divided in their opinions as to whether loperamide helps or hurts the withdrawal process.

New Member

I just gone through my second time withdrawing from opiates. The first time was quite bad, and it lasted for about five days with real intensity and gradually improved beyond that. This time, however a friend of mine suggested that I make use of loperamide, to ease the horrible withdrawal.

At first, it seemed like magic, because I quit cold turkey last weekend, and I didn't have too much problem getting back to work this Monday. However, I haven't been able to take a dump all week, and the loperamide is not working as well as it worked in the beginning of this week. Today is Friday and I feel all sick, and this is nothing but a delayed and prolonged withdrawal from opiates. By prolonging it, loperamide had converted this into the most terrible withdrawal , which I am sure is going to continue right through this weekend as is probably going to get worse and worse as time goes by.

In my own analysis, all the loperamide managed to do, was play the fool with my withdrawal. It sort of camouflaged the initial withdrawal stage, but overall prolonged the withdrawal period by a significant amount, and the overall pain and suffering I had to ultimately endure was multi fold what it would have been, had I never experimented with loperamide.

I have no clue what you are talking about. You can take large amounts of loperamide for not more than two to three days, when you need it the most, as soon as you quit opiates. This will literally nullify your withdrawal, and that's why the need to take large amounts. Large amounts will neither get you high nor will it cause any damage. It is only going to keep your most intense phase of opiate withdrawal at bay.

The mistake you have made, my friend, is to continue your loperamide, at what ever dose you might have been taking - makes no difference - for over four to five days. You are bound to have a loperamide withdrawal , if you do that, starting any time after four days of daily use, even if you continue the loperamide, unless you keep upping the dose.

Doesn't it seem much more likely to you, with the information I have placed on the table, that loperamide has not prolonged the opiate withdrawal, but rather, loperamide did tend to the opiate withdrawal, but off-label, irresponsible, and extended usage beyond the recommended period has resulted in a withdrawal from loperamide itself.

Now, please tell me, what sense it makes, to start blaming the loperamide. I'm not trying to bait you. I am only trying to paint a truer picture, which I hope will appeal to you. All the best!

New Member

I have no clue what you are talking about. You can take large amounts of loperamide for not more than two to three days, when you need it the most, as soon as you quit opiates. This will literally nullify your withdrawal, and that's why the need to take large amounts. Large amounts will neither get you high nor will it cause any damage. It is only going to keep your most intense phase of opiate withdrawal at bay.

The mistake you have made, my friend, is to continue your loperamide, at what ever dose you might have been taking - makes no difference - for over four to five days. You are bound to have a loperamide withdrawal , if you do that, starting any time after four days of daily use, even if you continue the loperamide, unless you keep upping the dose.

Doesn't it seem much more likely to you, with the information I have placed on the table, that loperamide has not prolonged the opiate withdrawal, but rather, loperamide did tend to the opiate withdrawal, but off-label, irresponsible, and extended usage beyond the recommended period has resulted in a withdrawal from loperamide itself.

Now, please tell me, what sense it makes, to start blaming the loperamide. I'm not trying to bait you. I am only trying to paint a truer picture, which I hope will appeal to you. All the best!

Sorry, but I disagree. Loperamide happens to itself be an opiate. Naturally, all it is going to do is delay the process of detoxification. I really feel sorry for people who get whacked by both ends of the stick this way. People should know better than to go and suggest to opiate addicts , who are withdrawing, already in so much pain, to go and try something like Loperamide. At the end of the day, your sufferings get compounded this way.

New Member

From my own experience with loperamide, I don’t think Loperamide prolongs withdrawals. A couple of years ago I was using Kratom to help me get clean from oxymorphone, but made the change to loperamide and quinine.

As I also quit oxymorphone cold turkey, I didn’t notice a time increase when using loperamide, still around 5 days.

New Member

I have a friend who had withdrawal symptom dozens of times and loperamide really helped her, eliminating let’s say 80% of the physical symptoms. Benzodiazepines complement lope really well taking care of the nervous part.

This doesn’t means it’s an easy process she says, but it certainly makes it more bearable. Also, using loperamide doesn’t make the withdrawal any longer.

New Member

@Plucked can you tell me what doses was your friend taking? I’ve heard that 25 to 35 mg (what works out to 10 to 15 pills) relieves most of the withdrawal symptoms, but I am curious to know about how it acts on the opiate receptors of the body. What is the exact mechanism that makes the withdrawal symptoms stop?

Also, you mentioned the withdrawal effect wasn’t prolonged, but did your friend manage to stay clean or how long after stopping loperamide she start consuming again? Just wondering if the loperamide was still in the system when opiate consumption started again.

New Member

New Member

Lopermide didn’t do much for me (and I was taking around 15 chewable pills a day) except stopping diarrhoea, which was my most annoying symptom. Considering it took care of that , I feel it did its job.

New Member

I was doing some research and confirmed that most people who tried loperamide say that it doesn’t prolong wd symptoms, so my friend finally took 13 pills of 2mg (a total of 26 mg) and he will wait a couple of days to see how the symptoms are. If necessary he will take some more, but It will depend on how he feels.

@steve123, I suppose chewable pills are different from the 2 mg ones, turquoise small pills, when 15 pills really get all the wd symptoms away, with almost no side effects, just some nausea. A lot of water helps in this process, so drink a lot of it.

New Member

The receptors for opiates are located in the intestines and stomach, and loperamide was a drug conceived to cure diarrhea, not to get someone high.

There is no reason why loperamide should prolong the withdrawal effects simply because this drug doesn’t get to the brain, so there is no high or withdrawal symptoms. Just the opiates that get to the brain cause those wd symptoms.

At the end of the day loperamide does the job really well taking care of the shits, even if has a limited duration, as after a while the opiate receptors get used to it. It’s better than Lomotil because it is not addictive.

New Member

There is some information regarding the effects of loperamide and its effects on the blood brain barrier, namely that with the inclusion of polysorbate 80-coated, loperamide can be transported to the brain.

This is just out of curiosity, and shows how there are circumstances pretty much for anything. As for the suppression of the withdrawal symptoms, I think that the interaction between loperamide and the body opiate receptors is enough to eliminate those symptoms.

New Member

My pet has been on loperamide for about one month now, 30mg a day divided into five doses, and now I see he wants to quit, but he struggles a lot without it.

As I had to take the pet to my parents, they really don’t know how to deal with him being explosive or even aggressive. Drinking might help him, but being hangover the next day makes it even worse.

So, in my pets case it’s not even relevant if you say if loperamide helps or not with wd because it really makes a huge difference for him, makes him feel better, so he just wants to stop when he’s no longer feeling and withdrawal symptoms.

Kratom wd usually lasts more or less for a week, so I don’t think there will be any problems taking it for this period, imo.